


Empty Eyes

by barbex



Category: Original Work
Genre: Addiction, Gen, Loss of Parents, Magic, magic like drug abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-16
Updated: 2016-04-16
Packaged: 2018-06-02 13:50:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6568813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barbex/pseuds/barbex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The green Magic is addictive and pulls everyone in. It destroys everyone Mirina knows and loves. How far will a young girl go to save her world?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Empty Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> This in older story that I wrote a while back to enter it in a contest. I still like the idea but the story didn't turn out as well as I had hoped so I never entered it in the contest. But still, I wrote it, so why not publish it? Maybe it will grow into something new one day and then I can say "Look, this is how it started!"

 

 

The man crawled on all fours, his body cramping from the withdrawal. The knuckles on his hands were bleeding as he scratched them over the pavement. But he did not let go of the two small sticks in his hand.

"Help me... help... oh no... I have to... please..." he croaked.

Mirina stepped to the side to walk past him and covered her ears to quieten his cries. She tried to ignore him, tried to think of happy things but his voice kept grating in her head. She slowed down and turned around. The man might have been of her father's age: it was hard to tell. The addiction had turned his face into a mask of wrinkles that glowed sickly. He had lost most of his teeth and his hands and knees were bleeding. Who knew what he had done to his body to feed his addiction or how long he had been crawling.

Her mother had taught her to always give a person in need a helping hand. That had been a long time ago, Mirina had not spoken with her mother in a long time. Still, she knew what was right and what was wrong. With a sigh, Mirina walked back to the man. She swung her schoolbag onto her back and pulled on the man's arm to help him up. A child like her should not have been able to pull up a grown man, but like most addicts, he was thin and frail and didn't weigh much more than herself.

His eyes darted around, he probably didn't even notice her. He just felt the pulse of the magic coming from the fountain and hurried towards it.

Mirina winced from his grip on her shoulder. She tried to pull his hand off but he held on even harder. "Ou! You're hurting me! Stop it!" she cried and broke away from him.

Without Mirina’s support he crumbled like a bag of sticks. He fell forward and when he looked up again, blood was dripping from his nose. He didn't even notice it.

"No!" the man called out in a desperate whine, "I have to... right there..." His hands were reaching out towards the fountain, still at least a hundred steps away from him. But his hands were grabbing at it as if he could touch it. He felt the magic radiating from it.

Another addict came down the sidewalk with fast steps; it could have been a woman, Mirina couldn't quite tell - she just grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her over to the man so he could use her as support. The woman looked confused but didn't object to the death grip the man instantly took on her shoulder. With the addiction and the pain from the withdrawal, she wouldn't even notice if he ripped off her arm.

Mirina watched them limp towards the fountain where three apostles channeled the magic through their bodies for the people around the fountain. Guards were positioned around the group, only letting people through that could show their sticks of shares. The woman and the man were let through, apparently they had fulfilled their contract for today. Both let out a joyous sigh when they knelt down and the green light from the apostles touched them. They both cried while they said the required prayer.

Mirina turned away from the mass of praying addicts that knelt around the fountain, their heads dipping in rhythm. She walked as fast as she could to get away from the fountain. She felt the pull of the magic too, it was everywhere. The strong magical radiation was why the mines were so valuable in this area. The ore from the mines was infused with the green magic radiation. It made it powerful, stronger. Steel forged from this ore was flexible and strong at the same time.

She looked back to the fountain as she turned into the street where she lived and the hair on her neck rose. The five apostles formed a circle around the fountain, connected by a ring of green light. They channeled the magic through their blind eyes and it spread like a web of green streams from them. Channeling the magic had made the apostles blind but they could sense the world through the magic. One of the apostles looked in her direction. She could feel him pulling at her mind. His green glowing, unseeing eyes followed her until she had made it around the corner.

She began to run. She ran, jumping over trash and empty makeshift beds on the sidewalk, past closed stores and decaying housefronts. She ran until she had reached the building where she lived with her parents and brother and she kept on running, up the stairs and down the hallway to the small two-room section they lived in.

As she opened the door, stale air hit her with the smell of grime from the mines that hung on clothes that didn't get washed enough. "Mama?" she called quietly, just for the fleeting hope that today she would answer like she used to do.

Nobody answered.

Mirina wasn't surprised, her mother and her brother were at one of the fountains at this time of the day and she hadn't seen her father in months. They were all addicts, they needed the magic radiation to function. Especially after a day of work in the mines.

Her brother was not as bad off, not yet. He still looked healthy and he still had friends. He probably hung around with them in a bar, one that was built around a magic fountain were the apostles were scarcely dressed young women and men. For him it was still just fun, inhaling the magic radiation, drinking and dancing around the fountain.

But Mirina knew what would become of him, she saw it all around her: the neighbor that used to give her berries from his garden; the couple who used to run a laundry in the basement and let her help sometimes and gave her homemade cookies. They were all turned now: mindless slaves to their addiction. They worked in the mines and just lived for the hour when they could receive their share of magic from the apostles.

Mirina found untouched food rations on the table. Her mother had taken up an extra shift in the mines to get more shares of magic. She also got more food for that but she probably forgot to eat it. It was unlikely she had left the food for Mirina; her mother probably didn't even know anymore that she had a daughter.

A noise from the other room made her look up. Her Mama came out in just her dirty underdress, her work pants still tangled on one foot. It stretched out behind her until she stepped on it and stumbled, almost falling towards Mirina. She looked at her daughter with empty eyes, no hint of recognition in her expression and scuffled out, brushing against Mirina's shoulder, not seeing the pleading look that followed her.

Her emaciated body stumbled down the stairs, her frail hand clutching the small sticks that represented her shares, all her senses focussed on the relief to her addiction. Mirina watched her through the window as her mother ran towards the fountain, pain in her chest making her whimper.

She took the last few books from the shelf and put them in her bag along with the ration packs. The witches in the cloister and the other children had more use for the food -- it would probably just rot here. The few clothes that still fit her were already at the cloister, she had not slept here for a while. She left the toys and dolls in the box next to her old bed. She had no use for them anymore.

She took one last look around the two rooms where she had spent her childhood. It was a small place but it had once held a lot of happiness. Her brother had drawn pictures of demons and monsters for her at that table, her mother had taught her to read there. Her father had put the sleeping mats away and taught her to dance in the big room and made her brother practise with her. On the couch her mother had read to her at night until Mirina was old enough to read to her while she sewed. Back then, her parents still worked at the trading post. But the mines paid better. Then they gave out shares for the magic fountains and then everything turned horrible.

Mirina closed the door behind her. She would not return. She would live with the witches in the cloister now. The witches didn't use the green magic. They used something else. Mirina wasn't sure what it was but it didn't involve green glow and empty eyes. Whatever they used, at least their eyes were full of life and they still knew how to smile.

She started to go downstairs but decided to go over the roofs. She didn't want to walk past the fountain again, didn't want to see her mother writhing in the clutches of the green magic. The roofs were all connected; she just had to be careful where she stepped. She spent a lot of time up here - sometimes she even met other children. But lately, even the children were working in the mines, earning their magic shares. Most of the time she was alone, climbing, balancing and jumping.

It was getting dark when she arrived at the cloister. A few street lights lit up the street in magical green, candle lights were visible in some windows. Most of the city was dark, addicts didn't need lights. Her brother had told her that the magic made everything shine and glow in itself. Most addicts would just lie around watching whatever their minds were dreaming up in their ecstasy. Those that were still young and healthy usually danced, spinning and swaying in the darkness.

A group of those dancers was tumbling down the road and Mirina waited for them to go away before she crossed the road. These men and women were young, maybe her brothers age and they danced and touched each other without looking in each other's eyes. Their empty eyes stared out into nothing and Mirina turned away.

She hated those empty eyes.

The cloister was an island of beauty in the green tinted darkness. The house was painted in red, flowers grew in the front garden and it was lit by bowls of yellow fires and lanterns with candles. Stepping through the gates to the garden, Mirina felt part of her worries fall off her shoulders. For a moment she had to fight tears; knowing that a place like this existed and welcomed her, made the city outside seem even worse.

She opened the front door and stepped into the well lit hall. Witches sat on couches, some talking, others reading. They all looked up when she came in.

The Lady Susanna came towards her. She was a young witch who had grown up in the cloister. The school in the cloister had been her idea and she taught about ten children that had not been taken by the mines. Sometimes she would lose one to the mines but other times a new child, dirty and forgotten by their family came to the cloister and she would take care of them.

"Mirina, you were gone a long time, I was worried," Lady Susanna said, frowning at the small child.

"I'm sorry, Lady Susanna. I went over the roofs."

The witch stroked Miriana’s cheek and shook her head. "You know how dangerous that is. I don't like it when you do that."

"The fountains... and the people... Mama..." Mirina swallowed and bit down on her lip.

Lady Susanna knelt down and pulled her close into a hug. She patted her back and hummed a soft tune while Mirina cried into her shoulder.

When her sobbing ended with a sigh Lady Susanna took her to the reading room. This room was even brighter: lanterns at every table and bookshelf, giving light to read by. Mirina took out the books she had brought from home and gave them to the librarian witch. At least here, someone would read the books, unlike at home.

Handing over the books, the last connection to her home and her family, made her cry again. She turned to Lady Susanna, who wiped her tears away with a handkerchief.

"I'm not going back home, Lady Susanna," she said with a last sob. The witch nodded. Mirina took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. "I want to stay here and learn about your magic and the green magic." The last bit surprised herself, it was an idea that just came to her head in that second.

"I don't know much about the green magic," the witch said with a thoughtful frown, "but we can research together. I will teach you everything I know. As for our magic," she knelt down again and took Mirina's chin in her hand, "the Earth Mother will let you in on her secrets when you are ready. All the witches here are willing to help you find your connection."

That night in her bed, Mirina wondered what the world must have looked like before the green magic radiation had appeared. How had people lived? She remembered her Mama laughing, sometimes frowning and talking sternly to her. She remembered that there used to be stores and farmers that brought vegetables from the country to the markets. But even then, the fountain had already been glowing green, the street lights worked with the same magic, builders and farmers had apostles helping them and more and more people came to the fountains every night. In her memory, there was never a time when the green magic had not existed.

The next day, Mirina began studying the green magic. She attended Lady Susanna's school in the morning, did her chores for the cloister after the midday meal and spend the rest of her time in the library. At first, she had just picked books from the magic shelf at random but after a few days, her reading became more purposeful.

She picked the books that talked about the source of magic and the books about defending against magic. There was surprisingly little about the last bit.

"Lady Susanna?" she asked one day, as she turned the last page of her book.

Lady Susanna looked up from her own studies. "Are you already finished with that book? You are a quick reader."

"I skipped a few parts," Mirina admitted. "I wonder..."

"Yes?"

Mirina waved her hand over the books that were spilled out on the table. "All these books say that demons bring the magic into the world and how to use it. But none of them talk about how to fight the magic or how to get rid of it."

Lady Susanna pinched her chin thoughtfully. "That would be the section about monster and demon slaying." She turned around and searched the shelves. "Which we have surprisingly few books about."

"I already read most of those books. But why slay a demon?" Mirina said.

"If you kill the demon that brought the magic, it will die with him."

"Oh..." Mirina stared out ahead. "Has anybody ever tried to kill the demon? The one that brought the green magic?"

Susanna's eyes narrowed as she looked at Mirina. "A few people have gone down into his lair but..." she hesitated, her hands wringing.

"They never returned?"

"Somebody returned," Susanna shook her head, a deep furrow appearing on her forehead, "somebody very different from the person that went in." She quickly wiped away a tear.

Mirina knew she should not pry but she had to know more about the demon. "How did they change?"

"They became powerful magic users, priests and priestesses with enormous power." She got very quiet. "It corrupted them. They joined the Green Circle and became leaders, never coming back to their old friends and..." her voice died down in a shaky breath.

"I'm sorry." Mirina didn't know what she was sorry for but it felt like the right thing to say. She waited until the darkness had left Lady Susanna's face to ask her next question. "Can't this demon be killed?"

Susanna's head snapped around and the look in her eyes scared Matilda. "The Grand Mother says that demons are just monsters," she said, her voice harsh and loud. "And monsters can be slain." She almost shouted the last word and the librarian looked up from her desk with a frown. Lady Susanna lowered her voice. "But if you want to know more about the demon, we have to go to the Grand Mother and ask her."

"Can we go to her now?"

The witch looked at her with new interest. She studied her as if she saw her for the first time. Mirina squirmed under her look and began shuffling the books into a pile. Suddenly, Lady Susanna stood up. "I'll ask the Grand Mother if she will see you." Without any further look or word she left.

Mirina wasn't sure what just happened. Normally, Lady Susanna helped her bring back the books and talked with her about the things she had read. The witch liked to make every moment a teaching moment.

She was just putting the last book back on the shelf, when Lady Susanna stormed into the library. "The Grand Mother will see you now," she announced. The librarian witch made an audible gasp and clutched her hand over her mouth when she realized how loud she was.

Mirina nodded and wiped her hands on her pants. She had heard of the Grand Mother but she never came to the main house where the witches lived. Lady Susanna took her arm and led her out to the garden. She was silent the whole way, a determined frown on her forehead. Mirina was too scared to talk, the teaching witch had never looked so serious before.

They entered the tower on the other end of the garden. The tower was huddled against the big wall that enclosed the cloister and had a bell on top. Mirina had considered it to be just a decorative bell tower and was surprised that the Grand Mother apparently lived in here. They went up a small set of stairs and came into a circular room. Something that looked like a throne but was clearly a bed took up most of the room. Two chairs and two small bedside tables completed the furniture. Another door must have led to an alcove because the room was just as large on the inside as the tower was on the outside.

There was a strange pull in the room, sort of like it felt near the fountains but different. Mirina involuntarily searched for green light in the room. In the middle of the mountains of pillows, an old woman with a round face was half sitting, half lying, her eyes closed. When Lady Susanna politely cleared her throat, she slowly opened her eyes. She smiled at Mirina and patted the side of her bed to invite her to sit down.

"Come here, child," she said. "I am Gerwina and you must be Mirina, the curious."

"Hello, Lady Gerwina," Mirina whispered.

"Oh, you must speak up, my dear," the Grand Mother said with a bell-like laugh. "My ears have not taken kindly to being around for so long." She chuckled and Mirina had to laugh with her. "Now, what did you want to ask me?"

"I want to know about the demon who brought the green magic," Mirina said, holding her voice steady.

"Ah yes, Susanna said that you want to know all about that." She nodded and her gaze went towards the window. She could just look over the wall from here, over the city towards the hills. "He lives in the mines, of course, down where the magic is strongest. It comes from him, after all."

"He makes the magic?"

"A demon cannot create. The magic comes through him from another plane of existence," the Grand Mother stated matter of factly.

"Can he be killed?" Mirina asked after thinking for a minute.

Grand Mother Gerwina exchanged a look with Lady Susanna, who stood very still next to the door. "The demon..." she hesitated and shot another look towards Lady Susanna, "humans have made the demon, humans can kill him. That is a law of the world. But he is strong and cunning and he likes being challenged. It is not easy to kill the demon."

"But it can be done?"

"Yes, a challenger can wear an amulet for protection, it would protect him long enough to strike the demon."

Mirina perked up, this was the first time she had ever heard about anything like that. "What kind of amulet?"

The Grand Mother pointed to a nook in the wall where a simple board leaned against the wall. Nails had been crudely hammered into it and several lockets hung on them with leather strings. Lady Susanna stepped over and took off one with a circular, red locket, about the size of Mirina's palm of her hand. She handed it to Mirina, it felt light, like it was just painted wood. She looked up to Lady Susanna who gave her a tiny smile.

"It's not about the material of the amulet. It's about the blessings and the curse that has been bestowed upon it," she said, looking directly in her eyes.

Mirina pondered that for a while. "Is the demon hidden? In a labyrinth maybe?"

The old woman laughed out. "This is not like one of the old fairy tales, where the hero has to fight through monsters to reach the demon. The demon is easy to find, he seems to like being challenged, to talk to humans."

"Maybe he's bored?" Mirina wondered.

The Grand Mother looked at her with a strange expression. "Yes, maybe you're right."

Mirina pondered everything she had learned and shook her head. "Why has no one killed the demon yet?"

"Because it's dangerous for us. We need the magic, our society is built upon it. Taking the magic away would be the death of thousands and thousands more would follow in the chaos that will destroy our societal structures." The Grand Mother had raised her voice and a yellow glow from her magic surrounded her. "We don't want to kill the demon, we want to control the force of the green magic. We want to change it so that it isn't addictive anymore." The glow went away as the old woman fell back into her pillows with a sigh.

"It can be changed?" Mirina felt her head spin from all this new information.

"Magic in itself is a non-destructive force," the old witch said with a tired sigh. "It's the demon who shapes it."

Mirina looked at Lady Susanna but her face was tight and hard. She couldn't even guess what she was thinking. She turned back to the Grand Mother. "What if the demon is just like he is and can't be changed?"

The old woman took her hand in hers. "This should not worry you. You are young and have much to learn. Maybe in a few years, you'll be ready to take on the demon yourself. For now, I want you to learn. Now," she looked at Lady Susanna with a frown before turning back to Mirina with a smile. "I want you to go back to the main house, I have to speak to Lady Susanna alone."

There was a hard look on Lady Susanna's face as she nodded towards Mirina and opened the door for her. Mirina got up and bowed towards the old witch in her pile of pillows. The Grand Mother raised her hand in a blessing. "May the Earth Mother watch over you," she said.

Mirina thanked her and walked out and down the stairs. She heard the door close behind her. Outside she stopped and looked up. Right above her was the window to the Grand Mother's room, it stood open and Mirina could hear Lady Susanna speak. All her life, Mirina could always hear well, better than most people and she had no trouble hearing what the two women spoke.

"I would not want to send a child either," Lady Susanna said, "believe me, I want to protect her from things like that. But grown men or women have not been successful either."

"Of course I want to protect the child too," the Grand Mother said, "but that's not why I'm against it." She made a pause and Mirina strained her ears to listen more closely. "The demon has corrupted good women and men, people of strong values and conviction. They all fell for whatever he offers them, what do you think will he do with a child?"

"A child would be too weak..."

"No," the old witch interrupted with a harsh laugh, "that's not it. Children are, by their very nature, cruel and egoistical. A grown adult will at least try to act wisely, in the best interest of everyone. A child will only act for themselves, we can't even imagine what a child with demon powers will bring upon us."

There was a pause, where Mirina could hear a quiet sob from Lady Susanna. The Grand Mother's voice was softer when she spoke again, "I know you are sad and desperate, you have lost so much. But this is not the way. Teach her, let her grow into a wise woman and then, maybe, if the Earth Mother permits..."

They stopped speaking and Mirina decided to leave before Lady Susanna caught her listening out here. She went back to the library, taking the few books about slaying monsters and demons off the shelf to look through them again. She heard the light steps of her teacher in the main hall and pretended to be deeply engrossed in the first book she got her hands on.

Lady Susanna stepped up behind her. "I'm not sure this is the right kind of literature for a child like you," she said. Mirina only now noticed that she had picked a book about demons of erotic seduction, complete with pictures. She hurriedly closed it and pushed it away. Lady Susanna picked it up and opened it. It fell open on a two paged picture of a muscular demon who seemed to wrestle with a witch. Lady Susanna chuckled a little. "I'm pretty sure this is actually one of the library's most popular books."

Mirina stared at her and noticed that her eyes were red rimmed. She had been crying. The young witch gave her a sad smile and got up to put the book back on the shelf. She turned and looked thoughtfully at Mirina. "Come find me if you have any more questions. But it's late now and you should eat something and go to bed." With that she left, not looking back.

Mirina put the rest of the books away and did as she was told. But when she lay in her bed, she could not fall asleep. She was lying on her back, hearing the calm breathing of the other three children in the dormitory, her thoughts racing. Finally she got up and padded down the stairs. There was still light and noise coming from the main room and she could see the witches through the open doors. Some were playing a game of cards, others seemed to be dancing, holding each other close and turning slowly to the music. It looked very different from the swaying and dancing that the addicts did around the fountains.

She could not see Lady Susanna, so she walked down the curving hallway to her room. She was very quiet, nobody noticed her. When she knocked, it sounded like a hammer falling on an anvil in her ears. The door opened right away, as if she had been waiting for her. Lady Susanna did not look surprised either. She wordlessly offered her a place on her bed that was arranged to look like a couch and poured her a cup of tea.

Finally, when she had settled down besides her with her own cup of tea, she spoke. "I want to apologize, Mirina." She turned to look at her. "I thought about you and the demon ever since I met you. You came here because you decided to want something better, not because you had nowhere else to go. You decided. There is such a determination in you, such strength, I thought you could be strong enough. I'm sorry, that was very selfish of me."

Mirina took a sip of tea before she spoke, "You think I'm strong enough to fight the demon?"

"Not fight, talk to him," the witch said. "Demons have a weakness for children, they are kinder to them. Maybe it's because they themselves never got to be children, maybe it's a longing embedded into their very being."

"They won't kill children?" Mirina wondered why there weren't armies of children fighting demons if it was that easy.

"Oh, I'm afraid they will if it serves them," Susanna said with a sad smile, "they're just a bit more reluctant to do it."

"Oh."

"Yes, again, I'm sorry, I was willing to bring you in grave danger just to..." she stopped and shook her head.

"But I want to talk to the demon!" Mirina cried out. She wasn't sure when that idea had come to her but now she was certain that it was all she ever wanted.

"But you can't," Lady Susanna called out, "the demon will kill you if he feels like it."

"What if I wear the amulet?"

In the silence, Mirina could hear the witches talking in the main hall. She looked at Lady Susanna, who stared straight ahead and seemed to be frozen. After what felt like an eternity, she slowly reached to her neck and pulled on a leather string to reveal the amulet that had been hanging under her shirt. It was the red amulet from the Grand Mother's room, that held the blessings and curses against the demon of the green magic.

Mirina stared at it. "Why do you have it here?"

Lady Susanna traced the outline of the small disk with her finger. "I had hoped you would come to me one day and ask for it. I wanted to you to have it in case you..." She sighed and took the leather string off and let the amulet fall into Mirina's outstretched hand. "I cannot ask you to do this, actually, I should stop you. You are a child, you should not carry this burden."

Mirina stroked the amulet with her thumb. There were a few bumps and grooves to feel but other than that, it looked very bland. It was just a circular piece of wood, painted red. "You said that I'm strong and this will protect me."

"But I know nothing, Mirina," Susanna said quietly. "I don't know what you will face and how strong you need to be. All I know is that we have sent many women and men down there, strong and determined and they all failed. Instead of changing the magic to a good force, they made it even worse."

"Maybe I can do better?" Grown ups were always so sure that only they could do things. They would never let children do anything.

"Many of the old tales tell us that children can speak to demons," Susanna said thoughtfully. "It may be our last chance."

Mirina drank the last bit of her tea and turned to Lady Susanna to ask, "What does the demon want?"

Lady Susanna looked at her with her eyebrows raised. "I don't know. Maybe he doesn't want anything? Nobody knows, I think?"

Mirina pondered her idea. "I think, I just want to talk to him. I can hear very well..."

"Yes, I noticed."

"… so I can stay far away and still talk to him. I'll ask him what he wants."

"We don't know how far his magic reaches..."

Mirina shook her head, she didn't like thinking back and forth about this, she had made a decision and that was that. "Can we go right now?"

"What?" Lady Susanna almost dropped her cup. "But you have to prepare.."

"Prepare for what? I can never beat the demon in a fight, and I read all the books. They talk about beheading or stabbing a demon, I'm too small to do that." She got to her feet and tried to look convincing. "I just want to talk to him."

Lady Susanna got up. "Get dressed and put on your coat and sturdy shoes. Wear the amulet under your shirt until we are in the mine. I'll meet you at the kitchen door." She opened her own closet and took out a coat and a sword. Mirina stared at it, she had never seen a witches sword. It was long and curved with a thin blade. Lady Susanna took a rag and greased the blade before putting it into the shaft. She looked at Mirina with a smile on her lips. "Never seen a sword before?"

Mirina shook her head. "Have you ever stabbed someone with it?"

Susanna shook her head. "This isn't a weapon for stabbing, this is a weapon for slicing. And its deeds are a secret between it and me. Now hurry off and get dressed, you can't face a demon in your nightgown."

A little while later, they left the cloister through a gate in the back of the garden. The door was old, half overgrown by vines but it still opened when Lady Susanna spoke a spell over the key she used. The door closed noiselessly behind them and the vines moved back in place.

They were silent as they walked through the dark streets. They knew which direction the mine lay, they could feel the magic pulling at them from there.

Streetlights became sparse the further out they walked. Lady Susanna called upon a handful of lightning bugs that cast a faint yellow light on the road to guide them. They stopped at the entrance of the mine, a big, gaping hole in the side of the hill, filled with tangible darkness and green light. The magic was visible in green veins along the walls and the ceiling.

This close, the magic was almost crushing, as if a heavy weight descending on them. There was a fountain right next to the entrance, where an apostle would give each worker a starting dose so that they could enter the mine. The fountain glowed alone in green.

Every step became harder to make, a weight was pressing them down. The idea to kneel down in front of the fountain became the greatest force in Mirina's mind; to stop and wait for someone to give her the magic. She gritted her teeth to fight against it, she would not become like her mother, she would fight.

Next to her, Lady Susanna began to waver, her eyes glazing over. Mirina took her arm and pinched her. "Lady Susanna, you have to do something!" The witch nodded and closed her eyes in concentration. She mumbled a spell, drawing her hand up with a yellow trail of light following it. Instantly, the crushing force of the magic receded and when Lady Susanna looked at her again, her eyes were full of life again.

"That will protect us," she said. "But you should take out the amulet so that you're protected even when you're not standing right next to me. Now, follow me."

She stepped into the mine, her magic glowing yellow around her. Mirina walked next to her, careful to stay close enough so that the magic glow extended over her too. She fumbled with the leather string and took out the amulet. She stared at it as it swung on the leather string. It looked different. The green magic blazed around it but couldn't touch it. The red disk glowed in yellow, extensive patterns and scriptures glittering on it. She felt it give her strength and keeping the crushing force away.

Lady Susanna hurried forward with determined steps. The tunnel went down with a few curves. It was indeed not a labyrinth, not designed to keep anybody out. But it also seemed that Lady Susanna knew the way very well, easily stepping over gaps and ducking under low hangings. The further down they came, the stronger and thicker the green veins became until the walls were completely green.

Mirina held the amulet against the wall and saw how the green glow moved away from it, leaving a dark spot on the wall. She was so busy with her experiment, that she walked straight into Lady Susanna's back. She had stopped in front of a gap in a wall. Green light was pouring out of it so bright, it hurt to look at it.

"We are here," Susanna said. She had pulled the sword from the sheath and held it in front of her face. She stepped to the side to let Mirina look inside. "I think you should not go further, the..." she took a shaky breath, "the last one who went through this gate, did not return. Try to talk to him from here."

Mirina stepped up to the gap, careful to stay on this side of the wall. She peered inside but all she could see was the blinding light. "Hello? Demon?" she called out.

She heard a snicker. "You have to come closer, girl, I can't hear you."

"I can hear you just fine, demon."

Another snicker. "Such a smart little girl," the demon mumbled.

Next to her, Lady Susanna gasped and leaned down to whisper into Mirina's ear, "Be careful, he knows how to flatter you. Don't let him talk."

Mirina brushed the witch away and stepped through the gap. How was she supposed to learn what the demon wanted without letting him talk? She purposefully stepped into the light, ignoring the cry from Lady Susanna behind her. Mirina looked back and saw that the witch was screaming but the sound was muffled. Susanna tried to follow her but the green light seemed to turn solid in front of her. With the sword she slashed through it like it was air but as soon as she took a step forward, the wall held her back again.

Mirina turned towards the source of light, taking another step forward. The light retreated towards the center concentrating on a single, green figure. The rest of the room turned darker, only illuminated by the green veins on the walls, that were slowly pulsing in this room.

The green figure stepped towards her, the shape wavering and cycling through different appearances. He looked like a young man, then like an old man, he looked like a young witch for a second and finally settled on a young man who looked about her brothers age. He was naked but the green light flowed around him like cloth, like a living robe.

He came to her, bending down to look into her face. He had a pretty face, his eyes a glowing dark green. His tongue slipped out to lick his lips, it was two pronged and black. The rest of him looked human and Mirina knew that he was very beautiful.

"Now, you pretty little girl," the demon said with a warm growl in his voice, "why do you visit me?" He looked down on the amulet on her chest and a flick of disgust crossed his face. "And so well prepared."

"I want to talk to you," she mumbled, suddenly scared to be so close to him. The amulet glowed yellow, its light shimmering around her. It felt warm through her shirt and she could hear it hum. It made her realize how dangerous it was to be so close to the demon, how much the amulet worked to protect her.

"What would a pretty little girl want to talk about with a demon?"

She looked him in the glowing eyes, they looked deeper than eyes had any right to look. "The magic, your magic, it's hurting people," she said. "I want you to change it."

The demon laughed out and he sounded almost human at that. "Ah, little girl, you are not the first one to ask me for that." He knelt down and raised his forefinger. A tiny green flame flickered on the tip. "You see, my magic is how it is, it has a force and a cost and it's you humans who shape it, not me."

Mirina wondered what he meant with that. He was the source of the green magic, not the humans. It took her a while to line up her thoughts, the flame and the demon's smile distracting her. "What do you want?"

There was a moment of honest surprise on the demon's face and he lost his form. For just a moment, his face lost the look of a young man and turned into pure flame, wavering in green fire right in front of her. He caught himself and the young man looked back at her with a smile. "My, my, what an unusual little girl you are."

He stood up and walked over to a rock that held a green crystal on top. Mirina noticed for the first time that the green magic veins all seemed to come from that crystal. The demon put the flickering flames that vaguely looked like his hand on top of the crystal. All the veins began to pulse faster, the magic seemed to strain outwards in waves. The demon looked over to her and said, "Nobody has ever asked me what I want."

He turned back and suddenly grew larger, his form expanding and he laughed. Loud and terrifying boomed his laughter through the cavern and his two-pronged tongue flicked out like a snake. "Because it doesn't make sense!" he laughed out, "A demon has no wants but to infuse the world with magic. And my magic is just how the humans make it, I just hand it to them." He shrunk back to his former form and stepped towards her again.

He knelt down in front of her and his voice was silky soft when he spoke to her, "Only a human can shape my magic." He raised his green glowing hand and almost touched her cheek with it, she felt the heat from his flames on her skin. He whispered almost inaudible, "have the witches not told you that?"

She shook her head.

He chuckled lightly. "I can't change my magic but maybe you can?" His voice was silky smooth again. "I can give you all the power, you could be the greatest priestess and you could shape the magic like you want it."

Mirina stared at him, a strange feeling spreading in her stomach. She could be strong and powerful. She would would shape the magic, take the addiction away and her Mama would smile at her again. She would make everything better.

Faintly she heard a scream behind her and turned around. Lady Susanna was beating against the green field, her face red from screaming. Mirina looked at her and saw that she yelled 'No!' as loud as she could.

She turned back to the demon and looked into the black holes that were his eyes. "No," she said, her voice firm. "I want your magic to go away."

No more addiction, no more empty eyes.

The demon laughed out and his form turned to an older man. "But you can't do that. Think about how many people will die. They would die from the withdrawal, they will go insane and kill themselves. After they killed their own children to stop them from screaming." His voice got louder and rougher. "And that's just the first few days, the direct withdrawal. Then comes the chaos, crops dying, buildings collapsing. Thieves, poachers, people killing each other over food. Thousands more will die, every day."

He transformed again into the young man. "All the people dying will be your fault, even..." he hesitated, his hand hovering over her temple, "even your mother and your brother. Think how they will suffer, how they would scream, their bodies cramping so hard that their bones break. Your mother is weak, do you think she can survive that?"

Mirina thought about her mother – her emaciated body, thin and frail and her empty eyes looking through her. How she hated those empty eyes. She never wanted to see those eyes again.

The demon purred softly, "I can give you the power to change everything and nobody has to die. Your mother will be happy."

"My mother doesn't know anymore what happiness feels like," Mirina said quietly.

"But you can make her feel happy, you just have to use all the power," the demon purred.

Mirina turned around to look at Lady Susanna but her face was unreadable. She had her hand pressed on her mouth and just looked at her, horrified.

She turned back to the demon, a green flame in the shape of a pretty young man, a faint smile playing on his lips. There had been a time when her mother had smiled like that, her eyes glittering with joy. Whatever happened today, she would never see that kind of smile again if the magic stayed in the world.

Mirina straightened and called back on the books she had read. She made her voice sound loud and clear, "By the power of the Earth Mother and the scriptures of the Ancient, I banish you back to your plane of existence. Leave this world!"

The demon snapped out of his form, a spitting green flame with a two-pronged tongue angrily stabbing at Mirina. "No!" the flame hissed, "you can't do that! People will die! And it will all be your fault."

"I don't want to see the empty eyes anymore," Mirina whispered.

"But your own mother will die of you banish me, you know that," the demon flame hissed.

"No more empty eyes," she whispered.

She suddenly felt a touch on her shoulder, the green field had fallen and Lady Susanna was behind her. The witch was crying, her whole body shaking in sobs. "All those people, how they will suffer..."

"They suffer already," Mirina mumbled and raised her hands against the demon flame. "You are banished! By the Earth Mother, I demand that you leave!"

The crystal on the rock burst into a thousand pieces, the green flame made a noise that could have been a scream, rose up into a pillar and then snapped out of existence.

In the same instance, the cavern turned completely dark. The green veins died down, turning off the only source of light. A groan went through the mine, dust and pebbles fell on their heads.

"We have to get out," Susanna said urgently, "the mine is getting unstable." She grabbed Mirina's hand and ran. A faintly yellow glowing ball flew from her hand and flew ahead of them as they ran. Susanna still knew the way perfectly, guiding Mirina over gaps and rubble, only hindered by new rubble falling from the tunnel.

They stumbled out of the mine in a cloud of dust. The fountain was dark as was everything else. No green glow illuminated the streetlights or the constructions. By the time they reached the city, they could hear the cries of the addicts. They felt the disappearance of the green magic first, their bodies telling them that they didn't feel the radiation anymore.

People were running through the street in panic, falling down in cramps in the road. Their bodies were twitching, contorting into unnatural shapes. The sick sound of bones snapping and the screams when they broke through the skin followed Mirina and Susanna as they ran towards the cloister.

A big crowd climbed the fountain in the market square, breaking it apart in a search for the core. Apostles, blind without the magic, stumbled around and tried to get away from the crowd. But the desperate people attacked them, jumped on top of them and at some point they stopped screaming.

Susanna led her back in through the backdoor, letting the vines grow back over the door after it let them through. She had rightly assumed that the front door was locked and barricaded. Already a crowd was forming in front of the main gate, demanding answers from the witches.

The witches didn't use the green magic but they still felt the shift in the magic. Every witch was up and most of them were busy in rituals to assure their connection to their magic.

When Susanna and Mirina entered the main hall, all heads turned towards them. Two witches jumped up and ran towards them. "Where have you been, what happened? Did you feel the magic go away?"

"Yes," Susanna answered shortly, her eyes darting around the room. Suddenly the witches fell silent and stood up to look behind Susanna and Mirina. With slow steps, heavily leaning on a cane, the Grand Mother walked towards them. She only looked at Mirina, her eyes boring into her.

Mirina felt fear for the first time, the Grand Mother scaring her more than the green demon. She took a step back but Lady Susanna took her arm and held her by her side.

"So you have done it, child," the Grand Mother said, her voice loud enough for everyone to hear. Mirina heard the gasps from the other witches behind her, they just now realized that it had been her who had taken the magic away. "Let me ask you why you did it, child."

Mirina took a breath, trying to find the words to say that she wanted her Mama back, even if it killed her. "No more empty eyes," she said.

"And you knew what that would mean for everyone?" The accusation hung in the air.

Mirina crossed her arms and held the Grand Mother's gaze. "It was the only way."

The Grand Mother nodded and sighed. Her arm that held her cane was shivering. Two witches carried a chair over to her and she let herself fall on it with a whimper. She looked at the other witches. "Prepare for a fight, fill up on provisions and barricade the doors. The people will grow more desperate and soon they will think this is our fault." She threw another look towards Mirina, who still had her arms crossed and didn't look at anybody but the Grand Mother. "We have a hard time ahead of us, weeks at least, months maybe. Our whole world will have to learn to live without the green magic. May the Earth Mother protect us."

Susanna put her hand on Mirina's back and leaned down towards her. "I take you to my room, you must be tired." As she walked her through the room to the door to the hallway, Mirina heard the whispers behind her. "How could she do that?", "So many people will die from the withdrawal alone", "And even more later on", "Everything will change now".

When she was in the hallway, she could hear the Grand Mother speak. "In the long run, we will be glad that the green magic has left our world. We have tried to do this differently for a long time, have lost witches to the lure of the magic when they fell for the demon's promises. At least now, things will truly change."

Another witch spoke up, "But at what cost? People will suffer and die, so many of them."

"Yes, it is the hardest way, only a child could be so cruel. A child that saw her mother fall to the addiction. To the child, her mother was lost when she didn't look at her with a smile anymore. Only a child could be cruel enough to cut the world off magic."

Mirina laid down on the bed in Susanna's room and listened to the screams and cries of the people outside. She tried to feel sorry for them but she couldn't.

No more empty eyes.

 


End file.
